Thursday, September 07, 2006

Just When You Think You've Got a Hold, Just When You Get on a Roll, Oh Here it Goes, Here it Goes, Oh Here it Goes Again

Day three of no television, and Griffin is trying really hard to make a case for it.


"Look Mommy! I can make an 'x' with my fingers!"

"Yes, I see that -- great job Griff! Did you learn that in preschool?"

"No, I learned it from cartoons."

Also, Darwin has figured out how to turn the cable box on. Luckily, he hasn't figured out how to change the channels yet, but let's face it -- it's just a matter of time.

And when he does turn it on, he'll actually sit down and watch the NASA station (that's the default station). I complained about it to Aaron, who's response was, "WOMAN, if my children want to watch the NASA station, YOU BETTER LET THEM."

I've received a few emails and comments about the subject, inquiring as to why I'm doing such a crazy experiment ("HOLY MARY, MOTHER OF GOD, LAURA WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!"). Let me just say that when a four-year old starts contemplating wearing diapers again so he doesn't have to peel his ass off the couch and possibly miss one second cartoons, you've gotta turn that shit off.

I must say, I'm surprised at how life is going without any television (oh, there's a little -- one cartoon while I get breakfast ready and one cartoon before bed, if they have been good). For starters, these children are clingy. Cling-eeee. And my personal goals are getting farther and farther behind, like my secret project. I'm not even a third of the way finished, and considering the project is like sewing calisthenics -- sew a little, iron, sew a little, iron, sew a little, iron -- it's not going to be finished anytime soon.

Meanwhile, I've resumed construction (hey, I consider it construction) on the entry room again...


I finished off my tub a plaster this morning. I think I need to purchase two more.


And I painted over my red test subjects. ::sob:: I already miss the red.

And, as if Aaron and I couldn't get anymore nerdier, we've been doing projects in the evenings instead of watching as much tv too.


Aaron and his pyramids. This phase is really lasting a long time.

Meanwhile, I went digging in my basement trying to find my senior yearbook. Some friends from high school found me and were all, "Why didn't you go to the reunion?" And I was all, "Because I was sick with my celiac disease." (Damn you celiac disease! ::shaking fists in air::)

Anyway, I found my junior yearbook and came across this charmer...


::blink blink::

I tucked my jeans into my socks.

::blink blink::

I Tucked My Jeans Into My Socks.

::blink blink::

I TUCKED MY JEANS INTO MY SOCKS.

See? We wouldn't have done any of this had I not taken away the television privileges.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am laughing so hard I might choke then no TV will have killed me!

Anonymous said...

He he he. love the photo!
You've been quite productive. You know I'm all for no t.v. we have about 1 hour at night around here and that's it, but the kid will drive you bonkers in the mean time. fun.
I like Aaron's pyramids. Very cool.

PamKittyMorning said...

Nerds unite.
Love the photo.
And all this TV talk makes me look back on Frankie's formative years.. with TV. Probably about the same time you were tucking your sox in your pants. And all that remembering makes me want to sing... Ducktales woo woooo.

Anonymous said...

wow! we used to do that in Italy too... except my mum didn't like it and so we did it as soon as she dropped us off.

You had to have thick ribbed white socks and kind of faded/bleached jeans though or the effect was not right.

Ahhh the 80s...

Anonymous said...

Nice socks, Laura. And what's that say on your shirt? Crazy something or other? And what cartoon teaches you to make an X with your fingers? I'm curious. Just curious.

LLA said...

Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee...

(sorry that I can's say anything better than that. But I'm laughing too hard - at all of it! - and besides I'm loopy from the paint fumes. (s. f. paint fumes...)

Anonymous said...

You ARE quite a bit younger than I am. I totally did that with my socks in Junior High. High school was the tuck-over-and-roll thing with the jeans.

We were pretty cool at the time.Right?

beki said...

Tight rolled jeans were cool! How funny, just last week I found some old pictures of mine that were pretty sad. Gosh, ya gotta love high school.

I don't know how you do it, I couldn't survive without TV.

Anonymous said...

LMAO. I tucked my jeans into my socks too!!! What the hell was that all about?!? Ahhh yes, I (at least this is my excuse) was stoned.

And you love laundry?!? What?!? I remember your joy over the new machines, you sicko you.

Berber said...

Hehe :)))
No tv is doing the whole lots of good ;))))

Anonymous said...

we all tucked our jeans into our socks. and we were COOOOOLLLLL!!!!

kirsten said...

Pleased to hear that Aarons pyramid project is on a roll. Tell him that I've nearly got the design for the worshippers robes sussed.
ps would he like purple or red trim on his?

kirsten said...

Laura, don't you really show him that. You know I'm only kidding and my husband is always telling me off for taking the piss out of his (Peters) projects!

Kim -today's creative blog said...

Oh, you had me laughing out loud today! I needed it this afternoon.

Anonymous said...

you are too funny!!!! i can honestly admit to never tucking my jeans into my socks. however, i was extremely punk-rock when i was in high school and college, so there was no chance of anything "trendy." and no poofy bangs and "big hair" for me either ... just shaved parts!

Anonymous said...

Are you sure that's an X he's making? It looks like the international symbol for warding off vampires to me. (You never know when that might come in handy...)

Anonymous said...

I did a little sock-tucking, but mostly pant-rolling. And if the pants were too short to roll, you got out the safety pins -- the ankles had to be tight!

If you miss the red, why aren't you using that color? Maybe I missed that part in another post. :)

Yes, no TV = clingy children. I'm the entertainment around here.

Anonymous said...

oh I think you look cute with your jeans tucked in.... why did you paint over the red?

nuttnbunny said...

We've just rounded out our first week without television and I'm so glad I've found you!

I always thought my jeans (and socks) looked great like that - particularly when paired with my side-pony-tail! :-)

Anonymous said...

3 Days without TV - good for you little guy!

You've got a lot on your plate with the entryway, huh?

Fabulous highschool picture. :o) I almost forgot about the pants in the socks thing...maybe 'cuz I don't have many pictures of my legs.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Laura--how funny you found it. I can't believe you were brave enough to post a picture from high school. Just don't post any of me! I had really BIG and very bad hair in HS. I remember that about our jeans. My mom hated it.

Glad to hear things are going well without the TV. You are brave. Put the boys to work on art projects, that way you can scrapbook some.

Miss you lots!

Amy
Your Wisconsin Best Friend

patrice said...

I'm always glad I stopped in. It took bravery to post your pic. I'm now considering the move myself. Maybe the pic when I braided my hair the night before pictures so I'd look super-cool. Stay tuned. To my blog, I mean.

tongfengdemao said...

We were without tv for about a year. My son was older and he read and read and wrote... and drove me crazy. But it was wonderful. I always wished we hadn't plugged the tv in again.

weirdbunny said...

Congratulations on stopping the telly. I'd love to get rid of ours for the sake of the kids only I'm to addicted to it !!!!!

Your school photo is cool, don't knock it, I'm sure everyone else was putting their socks into their jeans too!

deb said...

I tucked mine too! It was so stylin' though!!! ;)

Wow - way to go with no tv days. So impressive!

Paula Adams Perez said...

When I saw your photo, I went looking and found one of myself at 20 with the tucked-in jeans too!! Maybe we should start a Flickr group to showcase our incredible 80's coolness??? I've gotta scan my photo anyhow - it's the one with the vertical gelled hair that my sons cringe at, "You actually went OUT like that??!" Oh yeah! And I was BAAA-AAAD!

Anonymous said...

dammit i just splurted coffee on my keyboard again!

all your fault!!!

tucked look was killer. dude.

i'm so on board with the flickr group of bad 80's photos of ourselves. mine would be all kilts and monogrammed sweaters and penny loafers but i had those glasses that turn blue when you go outside and the sides were butterflies. not kidding.

Anonymous said...

No TV! Good for you guys. We are in the midst of a no-screens month which we do from time to time (kids only obviously as I am typing away here!) It is great after a few days of withdrawl boredom. Sometimes I help out by placing various craft activities around suggestively, but sometimes I just let them figure it out on their own. Even if you don't continue the no TV policy forever, it is good to take a break every once in a while!

Hey, I remember that jeans into the socks thing!